Conventionally, touch panels have been widely used in an ATM, a vending machine, a personal digital assistant, a handheld gaming device, an electronic guide display panel, a car navigation system, a mobile phone, or the like.
The touch panel is usually formed by bonding two panels together, on the surfaces of which transparent electrode films (such as, an ITO thin film) is formed with these transparent electrode films facing each other. At least one of the two panels is flexible, and upon pressing this flexible panel, the transparent electrode films are brought into conduction at a pressed location. Such a touch panel includes the so-called matrix touch panel and the so-called resistive touch panel.
In either of the touch panels, the transparent electrode films are brought into conduction by being directly or indirectly contacted to each other. Therefore, if the same location is repeatedly pressed, the transparent electrode film may be clouded or cracked due to the friction. There is a need to address this problem particularly with the transparent electrode of a panel on the side pressed by the flexible panel. See No. JP-A 2003-151366.